6 minute read
Bags of Choice
Smile Lifestyle
ANSWER IS IN WHY THE Bags of Choice NATURAL FIBRES
Bill Newbrough, talks plastics, pollution and how natural fibre choices are one way for every family to contribute in a positive way to helping wildlife
WORLD Wildlife Day may only be once a year, but the decisions we make and the actions we take every day are what is making a difference towards a healthier planet. Every year, World Wildlife day gives us a chance to become better informed and take time to reflect on our actions and how they affect underwater wildlife. The UN’s General Assembly created World Wildlife Day in 2013 to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild fauna and flora. And this year’s theme is “Sustaining all life on earth”, a topic that has been a burning question for the past few years. How can we live more sustainably?
The trouble with plastic In 2020, we cannot afford to ignore the growing consequences of the endless dumping of plastic waste on the oceans and the environment. Latest studies show 359 million tonnes of plastics were produced in 2018, with about one third made for single use packaging (and less than 10% recycled). The rest of it went to landfills, was burned in incinerators (therefore adding to carbon emissions and raising air pollution), or was never collected. The result is appalling: approximately 8m tonnes of plastics are now making their way to the sea via rivers.
It’s in the bag Changing our habits is hard. And change starts with taking a hard look at an item we are all familiar with: our grocery bag. Among the plastics commonly found in marine animals, straws and plastic bags are both items we can collectively stop using, considering there are more sustainable options out there.
But picking the right grocery bag has been an issue for years, with many studies demonstrating the choice between plastic, cotton, or even paper is actually not that obvious. Each material has its own pros and cons, and it ends up being a question of which cause you care about the most (carbon footprint vs plastic waste for example). But all is not lost, as there is a way to skip this all together and live just the way mother nature intended, using its resources in a kind, sustainable way.
The modern world and its technology allow us to use natural fibres to create products that are useful to us without being harmful to the environment. And the cherry on top, these are long lasting products that don’t need to be replaced after a couple uses. Because this is what sustainable living really is about.
Let’s talk about hemp For textiles, hemp (Cannabis sativa) is far more eco-friendly than cotton. But there is an even more effective fibre out there. The Khmu people in Southeast Asia have been using a natural fibre, derived from a dense tropical vine (tropical kudzu, Pueraria phaseoloides), for thousands of years that is even better for the environment than hemp. And could well be as much of an improvement over hemp as hemp is over cotton.
Good enough for Tarzan… I first discovered the basis fibre for JungleVine® in 2004, when I was visiting Laos. I’m a minimalist, and don’t keep much around. But when my friend and guide, from the Khmu tribe in Laos, gave me a bag made of that natural fibre as a souvenir, I was given something pretty special. When I returned home, I discovered it was unusually strong. I could use it to carry the tools that I need to repair the roof of my house. It could stretch and carry much more weight than my regular carry-on bags. It took me months to track down the communities that made the bags, as the Khmu tribes live in remote villages all over northern Laos.
The tribes pass down this artisan skill from one generation to the next, and hand craft these bags to serve a practical purpose for harvesting and daily activities. As an American, I discovered a much more sustainable option than using plastic, cotton or even hemp bags…
Larger carbon footprints Hemp requires 1/10 of the water that cotton requires. It is naturally pest and weed resistant, so it requires little pesticide or herbicide use while growing. However, hemp is an annual crop and must be reseeded and fertilised each time it is planted. This not only makes it more labour-intensive, but necessitates the use of grain drills or other seeding equipment, increasing its carbon footprint. While hemp is more tolerant of poor soil conditions than cotton, it doesn’t grow well if not provided with the proper nutrients. To be commercially viable, it requires the use of chemical fertilisers, which are a leading cause of surface water pollution. In the majority of cases, hemp requires the use of mechanical harvesters that burn fossil fuels, creating an even larger carbon footprint.
A real sustainable option JungleVine® is a perennial vine that self-sows, grows, and re-grows without any cultivation or human intervention. It thrives without any fertilisers, pesticides, or any supplemental water beyond rainfall. As a member of the pea family (Fabaceae), the vine fixes nitrogen from the air into the soil and actually improves the soil where it grows. It can be planted in completely barren soil on constructiondamaged sites, and as it grows, it improves soil fertility and enables the topsoil to recover, restoring a healthy ecosystem for insects, birds, and wildlife. JungleVine® is harvested by hand, consuming no fossil fuels in the process.
There is no doubt, from both an ecological and economical point of view, that textiles made from hemp are a vast improvement over cotton. However, JungleVine® fibre far exceeds even hemp as an environmentally-friendly alternative fibre. This is why I launched the JungleVine® Foundation, and our collection of Nature bags and home accessories made out of JungleVine® natural fibre.
So think about prioritising natural fibre over other materials – in all your textile choices. When it comes to selecting something as minor as a grocery bag it may seem like a small change, but with a growing number of plastic bags being dumped in waters each year, and four billion particles of microplastics discovered in major water bodies in 2019, using a long lasting, strong natural fibre shopper can make a huge difference to your personal environmental impact.
Bill Newbrough is co-founder of the JungleVine® Foundation, home of the JungleVine® natural fibre and the Nature Bag. The JungleVine Foundation’s mission is to connect remote isolated tribal communities with the global market by promoting their natural fibre handicrafts.
Top Tips:
If you do have plastic bags at home then by all means don’t just throw them away because you have invested in a natural fibre bag. Reuse as long as possible then dispose of responsibly. Remember that natural fibre decomposes faster than plastic-based products, such as polyester, so these are not only a more environmentally responsible choice from the agricultural side, but also in terms of their biodegradability and potential affect as a pollutant. If you don’t have a handy bag when you pop to the shops then a regular rucksack or a cardboard box also do the trick for transporting groceries short distances.
